The Effect of Mentoring on the Development of a Secondary Mathematics Probationary Teacher's Conception(s) of Mathematics Teaching: An Action Research

Author: Kai min, Huang(Hualian Girls, Senior High School), Chien Chin(Department of Mathematics, Notional Taiwan Normal University)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 48, No.1
Date：April 2003
Pages：23-46
DOI：10.6300/JNTNU.2003.48(1).02

Abstract：

In this study the action research method was used to investigate the changes in a secondary mathematics teacher's conception of teaching and the effect of mentoring on this transformation or conceptual development. The project took place during the teacher's in-school probationary teaching period, and had two stages. In the first stage, several mentoring steps were developed, including the design and discussion planning of a specific lesson, classroom observation, reflection and feedback on the lessons observed, and the re-planning and re-discussion of the same lesson. The first-stage data showed that these mentoring strategies seemed to be successful; however, these data also revealed some problems that needed to be resolved. To face the problems emerged, mentoring in the second stage extended the observation and discussion to the teaching of other mathematics teachers in the same school, and then to an in-school teaching demonstration and seminar, social-pedagogical reflection, and interaction involving tutors, mentors, and probationary teachers from different secondary schools. As a result, the foci of planning and classroom teaching activities for the probationary teacher were moving from teacher/content-centered to student-centered activities. Moreover, his teaching role changed from that of a demonstrator to that of a guide or facilitator. Doing this kind of research helped the researcher achieve a greater understanding of mentoring strategies with regard to mathematics teaching. Therefore, this action research has provided new and useful insights into the effective development of the mentoring process for mathematics teachers; during the course of the project the case probationary teacher's conception of mathematics teaching developed in a positive way, as did my own conception of mathematics teaching and the mentoring of mathematics teachers.

Keywords：Pedagogical reflection; probationary teacher; mentor and mentoring; conception(s) of mathematics teaching; teaching practice

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